Henry's Songbook

I Am Changing My Name To 'Chrysler'
I am going down to Washington, D.C.
I will tell some power broker
What you did for Iacocca
Would be perfectly acceptable to me
I am changing my name to 'Chrysler'
I am leaving for that great receiving line
And when they hand a million grand out
I'll be standing with my hand out
Yes sir, I'll get mine

Oh the price of gold is rising out of sight
And the dollar is in sorry shape tonight
What a dollar used to get us
Now won't get a head of lettuce
No the economic forecast isn't bright
But amidst the clouds I spot a shiny ray
I begin to glimpse a new and better way
I've devised a plan of action,
worked it down to the last fraction
And I'm going into action here today

When my creditors come screaming for their dough
I'll be proud to tell them all where they can go
They won't have to scream and holler
They'll be paid to the last dollar
Where the endless streams of money seem to flow
I'll be glad to tell them all what they must do
It's a matter of a simple form or two
It's not just remuneration,
it's a liberal education
Aren't you kind of glad that I'm in debt to you

Since the first amphibian crawled out of the slime
We've been struggling in an unrelenting climb
We were hardly up and walking before money started talking
And it said that failure is an awful crime
It's been that way a millennium or two
Now it seems there is a different point of view
If you're a corporate Titanic
and your failure is gigantic
Down in Congress there's a safety net for you

 [1988:] Written in 1980. (Notes Tom Paxton, 'Politics')

 [2000:] Vietnamkrieg und Watergate hatten die Eliten demoralisiert, das Land war wie gelähmt, die Arbeitslosenrate auf zehn Prozent gestiegen, die Inflation betrug 13 Prozent. Die traditionsreichen Industriebetriebe in Detroit, Chicago oder Baltimore produzierten immer weniger Autos, Stahl oder Maschinen. Pleiten häuften sich, der Staat mußte eingreifen, um das Schlimmste zu verhindern. 1979 rettete nur eine Bürgschaft der Regierung in Höhe von 1, 5 Millionen Dollar den Chrysler-Konzern vor dem Bankrott - und damit zehntausende vor der Arbeitslosigkeit. (Mathias Müller von Blumencron & Ulrich Schäfer, Spiegel, 29. Mai)